Honestly, Evan would have been more surprised if she'd stayed relaxed. It had been a long time since he'd been out there for any extent of time, sure, but he knew what it was like out there, and if she'd been okay, if she hadn't jumped... well, he'd been around Ellie a lot lately. The numbness was worse than anger or sadness. At least that was how Evan saw it.
Her voice was softer than usual, but it was still good to see her, even despite all of that. He nodded his head and reached his hand out, touching her arm and pulling her in for a hug. If it wasn't welcome, she'd say something. He knew her well enough to know that. He hugged her tightly enough to let her know that she was welcomed, to let her know that he was very glad to see her, but loosely enough that she could push out of it if she wanted to.
"It's good to see you, too. We've missed you around here. A lot." Sure, things were still going, but since she'd left, there had been a void around here that wasn't easy to fill. They'd never been able to do it, at least.
A small part of him knew that she wasn't the same Charlie—what she'd been through between then and now pretty much guaranteed a change—but she was strong. Whether she believed it or not, she could make it through this. And she wasn't doing it alone, now that she was here. Evan would help her, and he knew that Brandon and Leah would, too.
His eyes moved toward Natalie. "Have you heard anything?" he asked.